Prosecutors seek end of February extension to bring murder indictment against Seth Mazzaglia

Friday

Dec 28, 2012 at 3:15 AMDec 28, 2012 at 5:29 AM

By Jim Haddadinjhaddadin@fosters.com

DOVER — The New Hampshire Attorney General's office is asking a judge to give prosecutors until the end of February to present their case against murder suspect Seth Mazzaglia before a grand jury.

Prosecutors are asking for an extension of the time by which they must bring an indictment against Seth Mazzaglia, the 30-year-old Dover man accused of strangling or suffocating Elizabeth Marriott inside his apartment earlier this year.

Administrative rules in place in the superior court system since 2004 stipulate that judges must dismiss pending charges against a defendant if no indictment is brought within 90 days of an arrest. Currently, that date falls in January 2013.

In a motion filed Dec. 14 in Strafford County Superior Court, Assistant Attorney General Peter Hinckley wrote that the state requires additional time to interview witnesses and finish “certain investigative steps” in connection with the case. Doing so will grant prosecutors the ability to present the grand jury with the “most complete picture possible,” Hinckley wrote.

“In particular, the State notes that witness interviews, and further investigative leads deriving therefrom, are actively occurring,” the motion states. “So too are forensic testings pertaining to a variety of matters, which it is believed will provide additional pertinent information.”

The state is also seeking additional time in order to assess which charges are appropriate to bring against Mazzaglia during the grand jury proceeding, according to the motion.

Mazzaglia's attorney has been notified of the state's intent to seek additional time for the indictment and has taken no position, according to the attorney general's office.

Mazzaglia, now 30, has been charged with second-degree murder in connection with Marriott's death. He has been incarcerated since his arrest in October.

Marriott, a 19-year-old University of New Hampshire student, was last seen on Tuesday, Oct. 9, and is presumed dead. Prosecutors allege Marriott was either strangled or suffocated by Mazzaglia inside his apartment on Mill Street in Dover the night she went missing.

For weeks, authorities conducted an intensive search around the area of Peirce Island in Portsmouth hoping to find Marriott's body. They had strong leads that her remains were in that area, but never recovered her body.

The first new development in the case in the last several weeks came on Monday, Dec. 24, when police arrested a second person in connection with Marriott's death.

Portsmouth resident Kathryn “Kat” McDonough, 19, is accused of lying to police about her whereabouts and interaction with Marriott on the night Marriott went missing.

McDonough was arraigned Wednesday and ordered held on $35,000 cash bail or corporate surety.

McDonough has been in custody since her arrest Christmas Eve, and is due in Portsmouth District Court Wednesday for a hearing on charges of conspiracy and hindering apprehension, according to The Associated Press. McDonough and her lawyer haven't decided whether to waive the hearing, the AP reported Thursday.

McDonough, a Portsmouth resident, was engaged in a romantic relationship with Mazzaglia before Marriott's disappearance, prosecutors confirmed this week.